Detachable printing cart for rotary printing presses



May 21, 1968 P. ZERNOV DETACHABLE PRINTING CART FOR ROTARY PRINTING PRESSES Filed Oct. 13. 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOZZ ATTORNEY May 21, 1968 P. ZERNOV 3,384,012

4 DETACHABLE PRINTING CART FOR ROTARY PRINTING PRESSES Filed Oct. 13, 1965 s Sheets-Sheet 2 \NU ENTOK Parse Zea/vow null-V14,

V AT TO 2 HEY May 21, 1968 P. ZERNOV 3,384,012

DETACHABLE PRINTING CART FOR ROTARY PRINTING PRESSES 5 Sheets-sheaf 5 Filed Oct. 13, 1965 INUE NT'O K. Per-E2 ZEEA/Ol/ av: W

United States Patent 3,384,012 DETACHABLE PRINTING CART FOR ROTARY PRINTING PRESSES Peter Zernov, Milwaukee, Wis., assignor to Zerand Corporation, Menomonee Falls, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Filed Oct. 13, 1965, Ser. No. 495,647 2 Claims. (Cl. 101-216) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A printing cart including a printing cylinder which can roll on the floor and through the side of a printing press and into approximate printing position. Means are provided for accurately and positively forcing the cart and its cylinder into exact registry with the rest of the press. This means acts to lift the entire cart free of the floor so as to be suspended from the press frame while in the printing position.

This invention relates generally to web printing equipment and finds particular utility in in-line type printing presses, such as fiexographic or rotogravure presses.

In accordance with with the present invention an improved printing assembly cart is provided which can be readily and accurately installed on the main frame of the printing press. More specifically; the entire cart containing the printing cylinder, ink supply, doctor equip ment and the like can be wheeled straight into the press line from the side thereof, and be guided accurately into operating position with respect to the other equipment; the cart is also automatically lifted off the floor during final positioning so as to be suspended from the main printing press frame.

A more specific aspect of the present invention relates to the means for hooking onto the cart and drawing it into final position.

These and other objects and advantages will appear hereinafter as this disclosure progresses, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a printing cart and press made in accordance with the present invention, certain parts being removed or broken away for clarity in the drawings;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the cart shown in FIGURE 1 but taken from the other end of the cart;

FIGURE 3 is an elevational, side view of the cart just before the complementary guide means on the cart and press come into engagement, certain parts being shown as broken away, removed or in section for clarity;

FIGURE 4 is another elevational view similar to FIG- URE 3 but showing the cart in the operative position on the press;

FIGURE 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 in FIGURE 4, but on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 6 is a vertical, sectional view taken along line 66 in FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 7 is a detailed, fragmentary, sectional view of a portion of the hook-up means shown in FIGURE 5, but on an enlarged scale;

FIGURE 8 is a sectional view taken along line 88 in FIGURE 6; and

FIGURE 9 is an end, elevational view of the cart in operative position, certain parts shown as being broken away for clarity.

Referring generally to the drawings, the invention finds particular utility in large, in-line, multiple presses which are extremely large and heavy. A portion of one such press P is shown and includes the two, longitudinally extending, vertical sides 1 and 2 which are transversely spaced apart, arranged in parallelism and fabricated from 3,384,012 Patented May 21, 1968 heavy and thick plates of steel. These sides form the main frame of the press between which an impressing cylinder 3 is rotatably mounted and over which the web W to be printed is trained.

The side 1 has an opening formed by a cut away portion 4, and side 2 has a large aperture 5 and a lower, cut away portion 5a formed therethrough.

Side 1 also has a pair of holes 6 and 7 formed therein and side 2 also has a pair of holes 8 and 9 therein, but located at a lower position than holes 6 and 7. These holes are accurately located and formed in the sides.

The printing cart C is supported on the floor F by a pair of non-castering wheels 10 and 11 and a pair of caster wheels 12 and 13. A printing cylinder 14 is journalled on the cart and has a shaft 15 extending from one end (FIGURE 4) which extends through opening 5 and can be fastened by a coupling 16 to the gear box 17 fixed on the press.

The cart also has the doctor assembly 19, ink pan 20 and other equipment, such as an ink pump (not shown) mounted thereon.

Generally, the cart is fabricated from heavy, sheet steel, end plates 21 and 22 rigidly secured together by steel members 23, 24, 25 and others (not shown). For purposes of convenience, end 21 will be referred to as the front end and end 22 as the back end.

Four, large, tapered mounting pins are rigidly fixed to the cart, two on each end, which are adapted to register with holes 6 to 9 inclusive on the sides of the press. More specifically, pins 26 and 27 are fixed to end 21 by the heavy brackets B and B1 and pins 28 and 29 are fixed by bolts 30 to end 22. Pins 28 and 29 are adapted to register with holes 8 and 9 of sides 2.

An inverted U-shaped channel iron 31 is rigidly secured between sides 1 and 2 and a roller 31a is mounted on the cart. As shown in FIGURE 9, the roller can enter the end of and fit within the channel for guiding the cart during its preliminary travel to a position between the sides 1 and 2.

When the cart is in the unattached position as shown in FIGURE 3, it will be noted that the center line of the pins are slightly lower than the centerlines of their respective holes. They are sufficiently in registry, however, to permit the tapered ends of the pins to at least partially enter their holes while the cart wheels are still on the floor. When the cart is drawn finally into place in the press, by means to be described, the pins slide up on their tapered lower surfaces and into their respective holes, thus raising the cart free of the ground. This permits the cart to be fully supported in the press and in an accurate manner so that the cylinders 3 and 14, and other parts are in registry.

Means will now be described for hooking onto the cart and forcefully drawing it into position and simultaneously lifting it free of the floor, as mentioned.

A pair of rollers 32 and 33 are mounted on a plate 34 secured to the rear end 22 of the cart, these rollers being spaced apart and rotatable about a horizontal axis. A stop pin 35 also protrudes from the end 22 and is located above the rollers and generally over roller 3 (FIGURES 5 and 6).

Means are provided on side 2 of the press for engaging the rollers and drawing the cart into final position, as follows. A threaded rod 40 is rotatably mounted in a bracket 41 secured to side 2, the rod being supported in anti-friction bearing assemblies 42 and 43 mounted in this bracket. A cross bar 44 is fixed, by welding for example, on the end of the threaded rod 40 and when in the vertical position, as shown by the broken line in FIGURE 6, the rollers 32 and 33 can pass on either side of it so as to then be located behind the bar 44, as shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6. When the bar is then rotated 90 degrees and against the stop pin 35 (full line position in FIGURE 6), it is in a position to bear against the rollers and pull the cart into position when the threaded rod 40 is rotated by means to now be described.

A toothed sprocket 46 is threadably engaged on the rod 40 and is axially fixed in the bracket 41 between bearing assemblies 42 and 43. A smaller sprocket 47 is fixed on and mounted by its shaft 48 in the side 2. A hand wheel 50 is also fixed to shaft 48 and rotation thereof causes rotation of rod 40 through the chain 51 and sprocket 46.

As shown clearly in FIGURE 7 a nylon plug 53 is urged by a threaded set screw 54 into frictional engagement with the threaded rod 40. This is for the purpose of causing the cross bar 44 to turn from a vertical position, after rollers 32 and 33 have moved past bar 44, to a horizontal position and against the stop pin 35, as shown by the full lines in FIGURE 6. After the bar has thus contacted pin 35, further rotation of the crank 50 causes the rod 40 to retract, pulling the accurately formed stop surfaces 55 and 56 of the cart firmly against the accurately formed surface 57 (FIGURES and 8) of the press.

Eccentric, throw out clamps 6t 61 are provided on the main press for bearing tightly against the cart and thus locking it in position.

OPERATION The carts are adapted to be equipped with different printing cylinders which can be easily removed, replaced or cleaned. Other mechanism on the cart can also be easily cleaned or replaced when the cart is detached from the press.

To position the cart rigidly in place in the press, the threaded rod 40 and vertically disposed cross bar 44 are extended sufficiently so the bar can be located behind the rollers 33 and 34 when the cart is moved from the press side and straight into the preliminary position shown in FIGURE 3. Shaft enters the open coupling 16. On turning the crank 50 to then withdraw the threaded rod, the cross bar 44, due to the frictional engagement of the threaded rod 40 by the nylon plug 53, rotates 90 degrees and carrying with it the bar 44. When bar 44 then strikes the stop pin 35, further rotation of the shaft 40 ceases and instead it retracts axially, pulling the cart with it. The tapered pins cause the cart to be accurately guided into proper position and free of the floor. The cart is then clamped in operative position. Coupling 16 is then tightened to provide the drive to cylinder 14.

Various modes of carrying out the invention are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which is regarded as the invention.

I claim:

1. A printing press comprising, a main press having a pair of longitudinally extending sides which are spaced apart in a transverse direction, a printing cart having wheel means for supporting it for travel over a floor, one of said sides having an opening whereby said entire cart can be pushed along the floor and straight in from the side of the press and through said opening and into a position between said sides, said press and cart each having a printing roll rotatably mounted thereon and which cooperate with one another during a printing operation, one of said rolls being operatively mounted on the cart for printing while so mounted on the cart, interengaging and complementary means on said sides and cart for guiding said cart into operative position for suspended support on and in between said sides, and hook up means carried partially by said main press and cngageable with said cart for forcefully drawing the cart into said operative position in said sides, said hook up means including, a pair of spaced apart rollers mounted on said cart, and a rotatable threaded member threadably engaged on said main press and engageable with said rollers, said threaded member including a cross bar pivotally mounted on its end, said bar being of such a length so that it is adapted when in one position to pass between said rollers and be located behind them and can then be turned to another position where it abuts against said rollers in force transmitting relationship, and means for rotating said rotatable threaded member to axially move said cross bar and forcefully draw said cart into an operative position.

2. A printing press comprising, a main press having a pair of longitudinally extending sides which are spaced apart in a transverse direction, a printing cart having wheel means for supporting it for travel over a floor, one of said sides having an opening whereby said entire cart can be pushed along the floor and straight in from the side of the press and through said opening and into a position between said sides, said press and cart each having a printing roll rotatably mounted thereon and which cooperate with one another during a printing 0 eration, one of said rolls being operatively mounted on the cart for printing while so mounted on the cart, interengaging and complementary means on said sides and cart for guiding said cart into operative position for suspended support on and in between said sides; said complementary means comprising, a pair of spaced apart pins extending from each end of the cart and having tapered ends, and a pair of apertures in each of said sides of said main press and also spaced apart so the pins on the cart can be generally aligned therewith as the cart is pushed along the floor and towards said printing position, said apertures having their centers located slightly above the center of the corresponding pins when the cart is on the floor whereby the pins can be partially received by their respective apertures when the cart is on the floor, said tapered pins cooperating with the side walls to cause the cart to raise off the floor slightly when the cart is forced fully into its operative printing position in said Press.

References Cited ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

J. R. FISHER, Assistant Examiner. 

